OHNY at Night: A December 2024 Recap
In December 2024, Open House New York offered New Yorkers a moment of brightness with a special series of evening tours spotlighting the work of lighting designers. Produced in partnership with the Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section (IESNYC), the series offered an opportunity to hear directly from award-winning designers about how they envision, plan, and execute the illumination of the city’s buildings.
Touro University Times Square, Manhattan
December 2nd, 2024
A tour led by award-winning lighting designer Anita Jorgensen of Anita Jorgensen Lighting Design explored what it takes to create something uniquely eye-catching in the 24/7 entertainment district of Times Square. Inspired by a student dance performance, Jorgensen created the University’s identity in complete shadow against a brightly illuminated feature wall. Jorgensen explained how her design uses stillness and simplicity to stand in contrast with its surroundings while meeting the Times Square entertainment district’s lighting requirements.
One Vanderbilt, Midtown, Manhattan
December 5th, 2024
Designer Eduardo Zepeda gave a tour of One Vanderbilt's lighting design crafted by Tillotson Design Associates. As part of the revitalization of the 42nd Street corridor, One Vanderbilt is an energetic space with transit terminals, many new storefronts and beautiful office space in this very commercial district. Zepeda discussed the lighting design for One Vanderbilt’s exterior and lobby space, and the process and techniques for making One Vanderbilt shine among its midtown neighbors.
The Spiral, Hudson Yards, Manhattan
December 10th, 2024
Designers Enrique Garcia Carrera and Carla Ross Allen led the tour of the FMS-designed lighting that encircles The Spiral from ground level to the glowing tower top, illuminating the art-filled ground-level lobby and the top-floor ZO. Clubhouse. The unique indoor-outdoor design integrates nature as part of the office environment, with hanging gardens, terraces, and open atria connecting the exterior levels of the tower from base to summit, and presented an opportunity for lighting innovations that present these features to best advantage for tenants and skyline observers alike.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Financial District, Manhattan
December 10th, 2024
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was conceived by Santiago Calatrava, and its lighting design---a central component of the building's concept---was implemented by DLR Group. Tom Gallagher, Principal at DLR Group, explained how they transformed Calatrava’s vision into material reality and how they created the lighting effects that turn St. Nicholas into a standout jewel in lower Manhattan. Against the dramatic backdrop of the World Trade Center, the architecture and lighting design work together to embody the spirit of rebirth and continuity for the Church and the city.
Penn Station, Midtown, Manhattan
December 10th, 2024
On this tour, senior staff from HLB Lighting Design delved into the creative and technical aspects of the custom back-lit ceiling at the 32nd Street and the future plans for tying this entry seamlessly to the planned canopy along 7th Avenue. The tour offered insights into the complexities of working in a public space with numerous stakeholders and the decisions that led to the impactful entry design. Colorful, dynamic illumination breathes new life into this historic station, blending technical ingenuity with the complex architectural challenges of a century-old facility for one of the world’s busiest transportation hubs.
"Leading" Skyspace at Friends Seminary, Gramercy Park, Manhattan
December 12th, 2024
James Turrell’s Leading (2023) is a meeting room in the sky—a spiritual space for silence and contemplation and a physical manifestation of the K-12 Quaker school’s mission. Leading is a specifically proportioned chamber where viewers have a unique and personal experience of the sky through a knife-edged aperture in the roof. LED lights surround the aperture inside and outside the chamber, shifting colors to affect the viewer’s perception of the sky; based on the science of how humans perceive light, the individual experience is the actual work itself.
Moynihan Train Hall, Midtown, Manhattan
December 16th, 2024
Ilva Dodaj, Associate Principal at Domingo Gonzalez Associates and the project’s lighting lead designer, explained the history, art program, challenges, techniques, and coordination required to create a vibrant nighttime experience at Moynihan Train Hall. The former postal facility that had been shrouded since WWII now invites the traveling public into its soaring great hall. The transformation represents New York’s most ambitious infrastructure upgrade in decades that represents a seven-year effort from lighting designers, yielding a design that is at once subtle and bold.
Jen Lewin Studio, Bushwick, Brooklyn
December 17th, 2024
Artist Jen Lewin gave Metropolitan members a behind-the-scenes tour of her studio in Bushwick, sharing her process, recent work, and new projects on the horizon. Jen Lewin's large-scale public works and traveling light landscapes have shown that art has a transformative capability to bring communities together and make the world feel a little more connected. Residing at the intersection of art and technology, Jen has spent her 28-year career perfecting the coding, engineering, and functionality of her work through elegantly written software, programming, and custom hardware.
PENN 2, Midtown, Manhattan
December 18th, 2024
An iconic redevelopment project located directly above Penn Station, PENN 2, designed by MdeAS Architects, boasts a sleek new glass curtain wall, a relocated triple-height lobby, and a variety of new interior and exterior amenity spaces. CBB Lighting Design Associate Principal Michael Hennes led a tour of the evening lighting in this reimagined space, including The Bustle, which serves as the grand entry portal to Madison Square Garden and Penn Station, adorned with a mesmerizing 288,000-diode LED art installation that illuminates its entire 430-ft length.